The (Almost) Perfect Man

(Almost, because he's not my husband)

Regular readers of my little blog are probably familiar with my nauseating affection for former Rams/Seahawks Defensive End Grant Wistrom.

However, I'm not sure if I've ever waxed poetic about my fondness for Chiefs Tight End Tony Gonzalez.

First of all, the man's good-looking. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't notice. He's also one hell of a football player. Every year, I draft him for my fantasy football team, and every year, I get a lot of crap from people in my league saying that he's "too old" to draft. And yet, he's typically still one of the most productive players I have.

Finally, he's a nice guy. I got a chance to interview him once, and he didn't give off any of that "why the hell am I talking to you" air that a lot of pro athletes emit. And last week, he saved a life. When a man started choking near him in a restaurant, Tony jumped out of his chair and performed the Heimlich maneuver.

Interestingly enough, he's saved a life once before-- but more more indirectly. I vividly remember reporting the story during my first year working at KTVO. About eight years ago, during a road game, Tony crashed into a sideline photographer, knocking the photographer silly and sending him to the hospital. Tony (nice guy that he is) stayed by the photographer's side until they got him on the stretcher and off of the field. The photographer had a seizure while he was passed out, and doctors decided to perform a CT scan and MRI. It's a good thing they did... the tests revealed that the photographer had a brain tumor-- one that would never had been discovered if Tony Gonzalez hadn't crashed into him on the sideline. Crazy, huh?